EPA Orders Tennessee Salvage Company to Clean Up Its Asbestos Act

ATLANTA - On March 12, 2009, the Tennessee-based company A & E Salvage, Inc., was issued an Immediate Compliance Order (ICO) by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) relevant to the firm's salvage and demolition work at the now defunct Liberty Fibers Rayon plant in Morristown, Tenn. The EPA's ICO is related to the salvage company's failure to follow strict federal guidelines related to the proper handling and disposal of asbestos-a known cancer causing agent-which caused the salvage company to violate numerous provisions of the National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) provisions of the federal government's Clean Air Act.

According to documents obtained from the EPA, A & E Salvage began extensive demolition and salvage operations at the Morristown site in September of 2006, at which time the company began to tear down most of the structures on the property while salvaging piping and other materials that contained asbestos. The EPA alleges that A & E failed to follow approved methods for the handling, storage, and disposal of the extremely hazardous material; government inspectors discovered that most of the asbestos had been stored in open buildings or in exposed debris piles on the site.

Asbestos can be located in the soil or in a variety of above ground geologic rock formations, and it exists in great abundance in numerous countries around the globe. Asbestos is a naturally occurring silicate mineral that has served mankind in a wide variety of ways for thousands of years, and in ancient times, asbestos fibers had been woven into cloth that was cleaned by throwing the material into an open fire because asbestos is virtually fireproof. In addition to its resistance to heat, asbestos also has a very high tensile strength, is resistant to harsh chemical corrosives, and has superior insulating properties.

The numerous desirable characteristics of asbestos caused it to be widely embraced by countless industries, and from the late 1800s until the early 1970s, factories turned out a broad spectrum of asbestos-containing products that included everything from building materials to baby powder. It was in the early 1970s, however, when research scientists and health experts determined that exposures to microscopic, airborne asbestos fibers could lead to the onset of serious respiratory diseases, including malignant pleural mesothelioma, which is a particularly aggressive and incurable form of cancer. Because of the extreme toxicity of asbestos, it is critically important to handle and dispose of the material in accordance with strict federal and state guidelines-something A & E failed to do.

The EPA issued its ICO to A & E's President, Elisa Smith, Vice-President Mark Sawyer, and other officers and employees of the corporation. The EPA states in its compliance order that A & E failed to: properly inspect the site's buildings for the presence of asbestos; notify the proper authorities that asbestos abatement work was to be done; properly supervise and protect its employees who were handling asbestos, as well as employing individuals who were untrained in the handling of asbestos; store asbestos debris in properly labeled, airtight containers, and failure to keep all asbestos containing debris wet at all times so as to prevent asbestos fibers from becoming airborne.

On March 12, 2009, due to A & E's numerous NESHAP violations, the EPA withdrew an August 2008 issued consent order to perform work at the site until A & E and Liberty Fibers perform a number of initial actions that include: effectively securing the site to bar the entry of any unauthorized person; submit a report that accurately describes the location of all asbestos containing materials-including asbestos that may be buried at the site-submit a revised Bagged Asbestos Waste Disposal Plan, and submit a plan that adequately details the salvage company's overall strategy for removing all asbestos at the Morristown site.

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